Speech to examine redistricting

Who wins when Congressional districts are drawn according to racial boundaries? And how far should the U.S. Supreme Court step into politics to decide the issue?

A political science professor will address these questions at a free public lecture. David Canon, a Congressional expert, will speak on “Racial Redistricting and the Supreme Court” Friday, Sept. 27, at 4:30 p.m., 201 Fluno Center.

Canon says “creative redistricting to empower minority voters is extremely controversial.” Critics on the left argue that the new districts offer more tokenism than actual representation, while critics on the right see the districts as a form of political apartheid that racially segregates voters.

Canon says he challenges arguments on both sides and looks instead at how the districts create “a politics of communality rather than a politics of difference.” His talk will explore the representation of racial interests in Congress and the role played by the Supreme Court in establishing the permissible boundaries in considering race in redistricting.